Oil Painting

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Free Oil Painting Instructions & Demonstrations

Welcome to the oil painting section of CreativeSpotlite.com. On the following pages you will find a great selection of step by step oil painting demonstrations, techniques and tips that I am sure you will enjoy. The art instruction on the following pages has been generously donated by professional artists from all over the world. We are most grateful for their generosity and we hope you enjoy! Happy painting!

Coming around the corner I was struck by the natural pose and backlighting. I happened to have a camera and equested she hold right there. Several shots were taken at the 1mb setting and this first one seemed to have the most promise. The resolution was increased in PaintShop Pro which helped, but it still was not a professional quality photo. A lot of very good artists would not attempt a portrait with anything less than first class reference photos. As a general rule that is the right attitude. In this case I've known the model a long time and think I can break that rule successfully. We'll see.

Mirra is my new grand-niece. I was very impressed by her liveliness this Fall (2003) and asked her father to send me some recent photos. I held off as long as I could, but finally, I have started a portrait of her "just for fun". (No, no, the picture to the left is not the painting. It's the photo.)

Soft pencil or charcoal is best for the initial drawing, especially on canvas. Hogs hair brushes are best suited for oil painting.The main types are: flats, brights, filbert, and round. Sable, fitch, and squirrel hair brushes are also used, mainly to apply highlights and detail to the painting.

I begin with a toned canvas. "Why red?" , you may ask. Well, I don't always paint on a red-toned canvas, but it is something I often enjoy using with landscapes. I prefer a mid-toned canvas, which can be a neutral gray or mid range siena mixed with white (what the Impressionists called a "blonde" canvas). But red is also nice because it gives an immediate warm undertone and it is a compliment to the large amounts of green that tend to predominate in landscape painting.

Here's my initial drawing of Maria on a stretched, 40" by 30" piece of medium textured Clausens double oil primed linen. Because of the size of the painting and the fact that I wanted it to work out to a specific composition, I used some vine charcoal to carefully sketch this one out. By just taking a quick measurement of the head and figuring out how many units high Maria is from head to seat as well as wide, you can very easily assure yourself that you'll end up with exactly the composition you have in mind. I knew I wanted this to be a life-sized painting, so I worked out the units once the pose was decided on, even before stretching out my canvas.

Ok, here's my initial pencil drawing. On this painting I was especially concerned with tying together some of the lights and darks to make a nice pattern since the photo was way too broken up. I can't emphasize enough how important planning is before starting a painting. There are an infinite number of ways you can interpret any subject, so having an idea set clearly in your mind beforehand is crucial.

"With so many requests to explain how I work with the palette knife, we have decided to include this section in
our web site explaining the various tips, tricks and techniques on how to paint on canvas using the palette knife.
Any comments and questions are most welcome and we will attempt to answer your inquiries by email.
Some of your questions and their solutions will most certainly find their way into this section.
Hope you enjoy and find helpful, this new area of our web site. I thought I might try a different format
to this section of the site and put the images and text in a strip down the page
which should make these tips and image progressions easier to follow." - Paul Rupert

Dan Schultz was born in New Mexico in 1975 and soon began to take an interest in art. He enjoyed art classes through his primary and high school years, and studied commercial art at Pensacola Christian College in Florida. He received his degree with a focus on illustration and graphic design, but he never felt driven to pursue either as a career. After college, he continued to sharpen his drawing and painting skills by attending Cottonwood Artists’ School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and it was there that he realized for the first time his desire for a career in fine art.